| Description |
The University of Utah Hospital's Office of Interpreting Services supplies the University Healthcare system with interpreters in a wide variety of languages. These interpreters assist patients as needed in situations ranging from doctor visits to medical procedures to emergency room visits. While Interpreting Services does have several paid staff members, many of the interpreters are volunteers. Each volunteer is required to take a forty hour "Bridging the Gap" course which offers information on general medical terminology and guidelines on how to interact with both patients and medical professionals. Since many of the incoming volunteers have no experience interpreting in medical situations, which can be very overwhelming, it was decided that an interpreter's handbook would be useful in conjunction with the training course. As such, meetings with the staff of Interpreting Services exposed specific needs to be addressed, and a handbook was constructed that was distinctive to the University Hospitals. Hard copies were supplied to Interpreting Services, as well as an electronic copy so changes can be made and prints can be distributed as needed. The handbook can be used as a guide to the University Healthcare system as a whole, as well as to the general roles of and situations that may be encountered by an interpreter. |
